Certainly, here is the translation of the provided Chinese text:

The flesh and blood are ultimately not weapons.

The Burly Man was actually right, even Du Chengfeng agreed with this point—if a weapon is lost it can be replaced, but life only has one chance. If one treats the body entirely as a weapon, taking hits from blades, no matter how robust the body is, it cannot withstand many cuts.

Unless one can truly achieve invulnerability to sword and spear.

But obviously, this idea is somewhat too fantastical. Unless he enters the imperial tomb and subdues the over ten-meter-tall giant to the ground to draw blood, otherwise just relying on personal training, even at the extreme, likely can only achieve protection like the Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth Shirt from martial arts novels, against ordinary weapons.

So, the question arises.

If it’s just to defend against ordinary weapons, why not wear armor?

The truly powerful are ultimately those ominous evil weapons, especially the ominous evil weapons with many kills, they can quickly elevate the user to a nearly Evil Qi-extending level—and once strength reaches Evil Qi extension, the so-called armor can only be regarded as uniquely styled clothing. These Evil Qi-extending weapon edges can cut through armor easily, much like piercing through paper.

"So if I make a set of Evil Qi armor..."

Du Chengfeng is still unwilling to give up, he always feels there’s another solution to this matter.

But the Burly Man still shook his head.

"What you’re talking about, actually has been attempted by others. During the old Yu period, a madman made a full body armor, relying on the armor to kill, claiming to be invincible, but in the end, just after occupying a mountain top intending to reign, he was stabbed to death by the local guard with a single spear."

"Ah, this..."

Du Chengfeng began to scratch his head.

This Evil Qi armor concept, it turns out, is also unreliable?

That armor was at least tainted with Evil Qi, how could one be killed with just a spear?

It actually can.

Because what truly determines superiority in skill is the person wielding the weapon.

Even with a sharp blade in hand, an infant faces difficulty in causing harm, whereas a battle-hardened veteran, even without arms, can use his teeth to kill. Powerful weapons might bridge the gap in combat strength, but they merely aim to close the gap. If there is a vast disparity in power between the two parties, no matter how good a weapon the weaker obtains, it might still be of little use.

A weapon of top caliber, combined with a top holder, is truly powerful.

Therefore, the logic stands, but what does this have to do with the initial topic?

"The strength of a weapon lies in length, distance, and reach."

Thus said, the Burly Man pointed at the bludgeon hanging on the bird-wing ring beside Du Chengfeng.

"Just like this long weapon, if you hold it, even without protection on your body, you can ensure your safety because no one can approach you."

No one can get close; naturally, it ensures one’s safety. The Burly Man immediately wrapped the discussion back around within just a few words.

But having talked this far, they couldn’t continue the conversation, though Du Chengfeng acknowledged that what the Burly Man said wasn’t unreasonable. Yet, the issues both parties wanted to discuss were clearly different—the Burly Man was talking about the drawbacks of using the body as a weapon, while he was exploring ways to utilize Evil Qi; their topics from the start were disconnected, so how could they have continued?

Thus, after a few moments of small talk, they exchanged contact information and parted ways.

The Burly Man gave the address of an old pastry shop, saying one could leave a message there to find him; it was said casually. Of course, Du Chengfeng couldn’t just say "I’m the Grand Tutor, come find me at the palace," that’d scare people to death, so he left the address of the old military camp in Yizhou.

Should the Burly Man, skilled in fists and kicks, ever want to contact him in the future, he can directly send a letter to the old barracks in Yizhou, where, if Du Chengfeng is absent, fellow villagers who followed from the north would help collect his mail.

This was another change Du Chengfeng found hard to adapt to. Previously, it wasn’t either fighting or fleeing, or intensely practicing martial arts, hence he hadn’t noticed this much. Nowadays, with slow cars and horses, it takes ten to fifteen days just to exchange a few words.

"I wonder how Yizhou is doing..."

Thinking of this, Du Chengfeng somewhat wanted to hurry back. After all, there wasn’t much happening here in the Capital City of Jiankang.

The high and mighty imperial court previously only appeared so to Northerners, but upon closer inspection, it’s rather unimpressive. Du Chengfeng hadn’t even seen a single Evil Qi extension among all the civil and military officials. As for the achievements of setting things right, other than a titular Grand Tutor position, it seemed not to provide any practical benefit. As for the state-protection Divine Soldiers that initially piqued his interest, they haven’t appeared either. The only somewhat useful opportunity for him is the chance to achieve invulnerability.

"Quickly draw blood and leave."

Du Chengfeng was eager, even considering urging the young emperor seriously.

Isn’t he meant to be sent to die? He has no qualms himself, who is this delay for?

"Let’s go!"

Riding the trusty horse that had followed him faithfully from the north of Ji, Du Chengfeng rode towards the imperial city.

Only ruins and a ground littered with corpses were left behind.

Of course, he dealt with the assassins he killed, as a cautious man he wouldn’t easily reveal how many offensive tactics he possessed—whereas the five killed by the Burly Man, he left untouched; as mentioned, respect is due when assistance is offered.

Though he left the weapons pinned in the corpses, it was the Burly Man’s choice; Du Chengfeng couldn’t be bothered with scavenging trophies left behind.

At the end of the day, it’s about having means; his saddlebag bulging with items, with a bludgeon and halberd hung on the wings of the victorious bird on either side, equipped with a full set of gear, why bother picking up unwanted things?

But just because he doesn’t want them, doesn’t mean others wouldn’t.

As soon as Du Chengfeng’s figure disappeared into the distance, dozens of house servants from various clans emerged, cautiously collecting the corpses and weapons, specifically packing the four blades, excluding the shield, in boxes.

During the process, no one dared touch those four blades, as though they were some ferocious creatures.

Until these four blades were returned to respective ancestral halls, it was complete.

Just completed, not relieved.

"How... is this possible?"

By nightfall, the heads of the noble families, staring at their fallen house guards’ corpses, were dumbstruck.

"Even the state-protection Divine Soldiers couldn’t defeat him?"